Ron Paul: This Is Your Moment, The New York Times Says

The New York Times has officially announced it is time to stop laughing at Ron Paul, the Sage of Brazoria County, and pay attention to his vindication.

The paper writes that Paul's detractors must eat crow now that the Tea Party and Libertarians have raised him up as someone to be taken seriously.

"Ron Paul, G.O.P. Loner, Comes In From Cold" is the headline on a look at how Paul will be chairing a House committee that oversees his bete noire, the Federal Reserve.

During his 20 years in Congress, Mr. Paul has staked out the lonely end of 434-to-1 votes against legislation that he considers unconstitutional, even on issues as ceremonial as granting Mother Teresa a Congressional Gold Medal. His colleagues have dubbed him "Dr. No," but his wife will insist that they have the spelling wrong: he is really Dr. Know.

Now it appears others are beginning to credit him with some wisdom -- or at least acknowledging his passionate following.

We eagerly await the hearings on why the U.S. should return to the gold standard.

Not every Republican is happy about developments, the Times says:

He still gives many conservatives fits with comments like his praise for WikiLeaks.

And many of those who follow the Fed closely say his ideas are "very strange indeed," in the words of Lyle E. Gramley, a former governor of the Fed who is now a senior economic adviser at the Potomac Research Group. "I don't think he understands what central banking is all about," Mr. Gramley said.